The government has proposed to set up water quality testing laboratories (WQTL) each in 52 districts under eight divisions to ensure the supply of safe drinking water. The decision comes following recent evidence of drinking water contamination in the pipeline water system by various chemicals and germs which are a serious threat to public health.
In respect to the crisis, the local government department has undertaken a project titled 'Strengthening the Quality of Water Testing System' at a cost of TK 178 crore 56 lakh. At present, there are 12 water testing laboratories to detect any sort of contamination in the pipeline water supplied by Water and Sewerage Authorities. The existing laboratories are not sufficient to accomplish the water sample testing operations to regularly monitor and check for drinking water contamination.
Meanwhile, the project evaluation committee (PEC) meeting was held on February 18 this year after receiving the proposal. The proposed project is expected to be submitted at a meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC). If approved, the Department of Public Health Engineering will implement the project from this year until June 2022.
Shamima Nargis, a member of the Infrastructure Division of the Planning Commission, said, "If the project is approved, 52 new water labs will be set up to ensure safe drinking water supply across the country. By creating water testing facilities, the public can be assured of safe drinking water and free from various water-borne diseases.”
The local government department expects to know the quality of the supply water by regularly collecting water samples from various areas of Bangladesh, which is expected to play a significant role in further improving the quality of the water supply system. According to sources, these laboratories currently operated under the Department of Public Health Engineering have the advantage of investigating different qualities of water.
Due to a lack of funding and logistic support, new monitoring and monitoring of water cannot be undertaken. It may be necessary to verify the quality of water by examining new parameters if necessary. At present, there are 12 water laboratories including Mymensingh, Rajshahi, Comilla, Khulna, Jhenaidah, Rangpur, Bogra, Sylhet, Tongi, Barisal, Noakhali and Dhaka. Due to the distance of many districts from all the water laboratories, there is a problem in collecting and transporting regular samples for water testing.
As a result, many water tests do not produce proper results. The activities of these water testing laboratories are increasing steadily to test the new source of water installed on various ongoing projects in the department. Therefore, as per the recommendation of the meeting of the Project Evaluation Committee (PEC), the project has been proposed for setting up of new 52 water laboratories in the remaining 52 districts of the country by providing necessary rooms at the existing district offices.
Of the 52 districts of eight divisions, the districts of Dhaka are - Narsingdi, Shariatpur, Narayanganj, Tangail, Kishoreganj, Manikganj, Munshiganj, Rajbari, Madaripur, Gopalganj, and Faridpur. The districts of Chittagong Division are - Feni, Brahmanbaria, Rangamati, Bandarban, Chandpur, Lakshmipur, Chittagong, Cox's Bazar and Khagrachari. The districts of Rajshahi division are - Sirajganj, Pabna, Natore, Joypurhat, Chapainawabganj, and Naogaon.
Besides, Khulna Division has Jessore, Satkhira, Meherpur, Narail, Chuadanga, Kushtia, Magura and Bagerhat; Sherpur, Jamalpur and Netrokona of Mymensingh Division; Jhalokati, Patuakhali, Pirojpur, Bhola and Barguna of Barisal Division. Under this project are Moulvibazar, Habiganj and Sunamganj of Sylhet Division and Panchagarh, Dinajpur, Lalmonirhat, Nilphamari, Gaibandha, Thakurgaon and Kurigram districts of Rangpur division.
